Yet another fake book - Is there no end to them?

The increasingly populated world of faked books is getting even more crowded with the latest revelation that one Rohan Kriwaczek managed to fool the publishing house Overlook into buying the rights to a book he'd wrote about The Guild of Funerary Violinists , a supposedly ancient secret order going back over 400 years. The publishing house lapped it up and his book is currently in print. However, common sense dictates that any organisation existing for over 400 years would leave some traces behind (even a "secret" one). That very same common sense (which appears to be getting less common by the week) would also tell you that if you raise your head above the parapet, someone is going to take a few pot shots. So it came to pass that some folks looked into the supposed existence of The Guild of Funerary Violinists. And found that they didn't exist. Sacré Bleú !! Could it be that yet another publishing house has been fooled by a fake author? Unsurprisingly, the answer is yet again, Yes. Don't these people do any research for themselves?. Just a quick visit to his website to check out his pics would be enough to let you form an opinion that you might be inclined to throw a few bob into his hat as you pass him on the street playing his violin but handing over a cheque for thousands of pounds would be a different matter. Articles have been appearing (including ones by Grumpy Old Bookman, The Daily Mail and other blogs) highlighting the fraud but the publishing house themselves have all but accepted that the book is a fake and are steaming ahead with the publication and distribution anyway. This could prove to be a bit of a double edged sword for Wanderingscribe (who is presumably still beavering away with her own work of fiction in her jutting out kitchen). On the one hand there seems to be an air of almost resignation from publishing houses that a percentage of supposedly real life books are going to be faked and so why bother checking the facts (if it sells then both they and the author get their hands on your cash anyway). On the other hand, it is encouraging folks (not related to the publishing houses) to examine the actual facts behind allegedly factual books in an effort to either confirm or deny the stories presented as truths. So when/if Abandoned ever does hit the book stores then there will be others of an inquisitive nature who will be delving into Anya Peter’s background a little more closely than Harper Collins did before throwing loads of Wonga at her for her dreary tale of one person’s failure to get by in this world we live in. Will she be getting her facts straight before then? Well, if her present track record is anything to go by then it's highly unlikely. Perhaps she'll be reporting it all from her jutting out kitchen which is situated in London, the exact middle of England.